Claire Danes Will Fight Terrorism With Her Eyelashes on ‘Homeland’

Claire Danes, the star of Showtime's upcoming CIA drama "Homeland," joked at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour that starring in those ads for the eyelash-enhancement product Latisse have given her new character an edge in fighting terrorism.

"I'm going to trap those terrorists in my very long lashes," she said.

On the show, which will debut October 2 after the season premiere of "Dexter," Danes plays a bipolar CIA agent who becomes convinced that a rescued American POW (played by Damian Lewis) is working with the al Qaeda to cause destruction on U.S. soil.

"Homeland" was created by former "X-Files" and "24" scribes Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, and will also star Mandy Patinkin and Morena Baccarin ("V"). It will run for 13 episodes.

Gordon, who joked that he is still recovering from "24," said that the mystery of whether Lewis's character is or isn't working with al Qaeda will be solved in the first season.

"We talk about how long can we keep the 'is he or isn’t he?' of it alive without feeling like we’re jerking off the audience," said Gordon. "We hope we answer those questions at the right time."

Despite the seriousness of the program, which will focus on preventing another 9/11, the panel mostly kept it light.

Danes, who found fame as the star of the short-lived ABC series "My So-Called Life," said that Showtime differs from her old network home in that "you get to curse a lot, you get to get naked a lot."

There are other differences between her experiences on the two programs.

"I was 14 when I did 'My So-Called Life,' so it was a very different experience," she said. "I’m not breaking out as much as I was then. I’m not being tutored. I don’t’ have to get a high-school degree."

Danes was later asked which of her "My So-Called Life" characters was the bigger jerk: Jordan Catalano or Brian Krakow.

"They're both lovely men," she said. "I don't think [Angela Chase] would have ended up with either one."

Lewis cracked the audience up by saying that filming the torture scenes his character endures wasn't that bad.

"I have a three-year-old an a four-year-old at home," he said. "[The torture scenes] are like a morning of dealing with that."

Lewis also said that he filmed a scene in which his character was being peed on three days ago.

"I said 'I’m enjoying this.' Is that wrong?" he joked.

Baccarin, who played the evil alien Anna on ABC's "V" remake and who also appeared in Joss Whedon's cult TV series "Firefly," was asked about how she likes working on a show that's not sci-fi.

"I'm just excited to be playing a human," she said.

Showtime also released an extended trailer for the series on Thursday, which we have included for your viewing pleasure after the jump.